As the number of industries utilizing optical communications and light beam (e.g., laser) technology continues to increase, there is a substantial need for optical switching system implementations that can be readily integrated into everyday types of user equipments, including both free space optical transport units and those which use fiber optic components, such as computer workstations, telecommunication switches, measuring and testing devices, medical instruments, surgical equipment, and the like. Unfortunately, currently existing optical switching systems that have been proposed for such applications are mechanically impractical, especially in a limited volume hardware environment, are cumbersome to use (often involving the physical movement of an optical fiber), have limited port switching capacity, and are relatively slow.